Indian real estate conglomerate Unitech is ready to sell its stake in Uninor to Norwegian telco Telenor, its partner in the Indian mobile joint venture, but at a fair price, according to Reuters.
Earlier this month, India’s Company Law Board (CLB)…
Indian real estate conglomerate Unitech is ready to sell its stake in Uninor to Norwegian telco Telenor, its partner in the Indian mobile joint venture, but at a fair price, according to Reuters.
Earlier this month, India’s Company Law Board (CLB) had asked Unitech to decide whether it wanted to buy out Telenor’s 67.25% stake in Uninor or exit the JV by 19 March.
A Telenor spokesperson declined to comment on the matter, pointing out that the CLB discussions are confidential. Unitech was not immediately available for comments.
Telenor and Unitech companies have been entangled in a dispute over their JV Uninor for the past few months. But tensions recently culminated when the JV lost 22 2G licences, which were illegally attributed in 2008 according to India’s Supreme Court.
Shortly after, in late February, Telenor blamed Unitech for this loss and announced it was looking for a new partner in Uninor.
In response, Unitech said that Telenor “cannot transfer any assets of Uninor without the consent of Unitech because we have veto right in the shareholders’ agreement.”
Meanwhile, Telenor has asked the Supreme Court to direct the government to hold the new 2G spectrum auctions by 2 June.
While India’s telecoms minister Kapil Sibal was quoted saying last month that it would take about 400 days to complete the auction process, Telenor argued during a press conference today that auctions “can and should” happen by 2 June.
Telenor’s head of Asia Sigve Brekke said the 400-day timeframe does not comply with the Supreme Court’s intentions, adding that no business can endure such a period of uncertainty.
